Knowing Jesus Better And Better

TO READ: 2 Peter 1:1-21

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:2-3

Coming to Jesus is the first step of salvation. The next step, which stretches into a long relational walk throughout our life, is to “grow in [our] knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).

How is this accomplished? “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3). Certainly this is accomplished in our personal devotional life but also in a local church in fellowship with other believers. The problem is, what we may hear in church may work against our knowing Jesus better.

As we read the Bible and get to know Jesus better, we will be better able to discern what is true or false —whether it comes from outside the church or within. When we are looking for a church fellowship to join —and we should —we should ask if it teaches that Jesus died and rose again and that he is the only way to heaven. We should inquire if it teaches that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We must study the Scriptures and compare what is being taught with what we have studied (Acts 17:10-12).

Growing in Christ means that we will become “productive and useful” (2 Peter 1:8) —we will begin to exhibit the character qualities of Christ’s disciple (2 Peter 1:5-7). We can ask God to teach us more about himself. Then we will be able to discern truth from error and can join a church that teaches the Bible accurately and well.